Genus 98. 



GRASS FAMILY. 



269 



keeled; flowering scales membranous, narrow, rounded on the back, 5-nerved, usually acute, 

 and generally awned at the apex. Palet scarcely shorter than the scale. Stamens 1-3. 

 Styles very short, distinct. Stigmas plumose. Grain glabrous, elongated, often adherent to 

 the scale or palet. [Latin, stalk or straw.] 



A genus of about 100 species, widely distributed, particularly numerous in temperate regions. 

 Type species : Festuca ovina L. 



Spikelets perfect ; stigma-branches toothed, bilateral. 



Empty scales membranous, green, narrow, the second one 3-5-nerved. 

 Leaf-blades involute or folded, 1" wide or less. 

 Annuals ; stamens 1 or 2. 



Awn not longer than flowering scale; spikelets 5-many-ftowered. 1. F. octoflora. 

 Awn more than twice as long as flowering scale ; spikelets 2-5-flowered. 



First empty scale half as long as the second or less. 2. F. Myuros. 



First empty scale more than half as long as the second. 3. F. sciurea. 



Perennials ; stamens 3. 



Innovations extravaginal ; plants with rootstocks or stolons. 4. F. rubra. 



Innovations intravaginal ; plants densely tufted, no rootstocks or stolons. 



Awns more than half as long as membranous flowering scales. 5. F. occidentalis. 

 Awns less than one-half as long as the coriaceous flowering scales. 

 Flowering scales short-awned ; leaf-blades setaceous. 



Culms 8' tall or more ; culm blades long. 6. F. ovina. 



Culms 6' long or less ; culm blades short. 7. F. brachyphylla. 



Flowering scales awnless ; leaf-blades capillary. 8. F. capillata. 



Leaf-blades flat, 2" wide or more. 



Flowering scales awnless or short-awned. 



Flowering scales 2 ^"-3^" long, spikelets 5-10-flowered. 9. F.elatior. 



Flowering scales 2" long or less, spikelets 3-6-flowered. 



Spikelets very broad ; panicle branches spikelet-bearing from middle or below. 



10. F.Shortii. 

 Spikelets lanceolate; branches elongated, spikelets at the end. 11. F. nutans. 

 Flowering scales with an awn twice their length or more. 12. F. gigantea. 



Empty scales broad, scarious, with broad hyaline margins, thin, i-nerved ; base of the culm 

 clothed with dry leafless sheaths. 13. F.altaica. 



Spikelets unisexual; stigma-branches arising from all sides; dioecious. 14. F.confinis. 



i. Festuca octoflora Walt. Slender Fescue- 

 grass. Fig. 648. 



Festuca octoflora Walt. Fl. Car. 81. 1788. 

 Festuca tenella Willd. Enum. 1 : 113. 1809. 



Culms 4-18' tall, erect, from an annual root, slender, 

 rigid, simple, smooth and glabrous. Sheaths usually 

 shorter than the internodes ; ligule very short ; blades 

 ii'-3' long, involute ; raceme or simple panicle often 

 one-sided, i'-6' in length, contracted, its branches erect, 

 or rarely ascending; spikelets 6-13-flowered, s"s" 

 long; empty scales acute, smooth, the first I-nerved, 

 more than half the length of the 3-nerved second one ; 

 flowering scales, exclusive of awns, ll"-2i" long, 

 usually very scabrous, acuminate into an awn nearly as 

 long as the body, or sometimes awnless; stamens 2. 



Dry sandy soil, Quebec to British Columbia, south to 

 Florida, Texas and California. June-Aug. 



2. Festuca Myuros L. Rat's-tail Fescue-grass. 

 Fig. 649. 



Festuca Myuros L. Sp. PI. 74. 1753. 



Smooth, glabrous, culms i°-2° tall, erect from an 

 annual root, slender, simple. Sheaths often shorter 

 than the internodes, the upper sometimes enclosing the 

 base of the panicle ; ligule $" long, truncate ; blades 

 2'-s' long, subulate, involute, erect; panicle usually one- 

 sided, 4'-i2' in . length, contracted, sometimes curved, 

 its branches appressed ; spikelets 3-6-flowered ; empty 

 scales very unequal, acute, smooth, the first i-nerved, 

 less than half as long as the 3-nerved second one; 

 flowering scales, exclusive of the awns, 2"-$" long, 

 narrow, scabrous, acuminate into an awn much longer 

 than the body; stamen 1. 



In waste places and fields, New Hampshire to New Jersey 

 and Ohio. Also on the Pacific coast. Naturalized from 

 Europe. Mouse-tail, Capon's-tail grass. June-July. 



